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If only the Buckeyes could've combined the offense from Friday and the defense from Saturday against Bowling Green. Alas, they couldn't and were swept by the Falcons following Saturday night's 2-0 loss at Bowling Green.
No combination of Nick Schilkey, Anthony Greco or David Gust could find the back of the net as the Bucks looked inept on offense and ended 0/6 on the powerplay. Matt Tomkins got the start in net for the Buckeyes following Christian Frey's mediocre Friday performance and made the most of his chance.
Tomkins stopped all 19 shots in the first two periods, but the Bucks couldn't put one on the board for the embattled backup goaltender. OSU outshot the Falcons 12-8 in the first period, with each team having one powerplay each. In the second, things shifted back toward the ranked Falcons, as you'd expect, as they dominated in shots, 11-5. Bowling Green was aided by a 5-on-3 powerplay for 1:07 in the second, but couldn't find the back of the net on that or the 40 seconds of powerplay time after the first Buckeye got out of the box.
Tomkins looked like he was going to put the team on his back and carry the Buckeyes to at least overtime, but couldn't quite make it that far. Senior Ben Murphy scored for the Falcons at 10:05 to put the Falcons up with what ultimately turned out to be the game winning goal. Nick Schilkey was stopped on a breakaway just 13 seconds later, and that would end up being the Bucks' best chance to knot the score.
Freshman Mason Jobst, standing at just 5'7, then drew two penalties within 1:29, for hooking and boarding respectively, to give the Buckeyes a powerplay and 31 seconds of a 5-on-3 advantage. But they still couldn't get one past. Then Matt Pohlkamp destroyed any chance of the offensively struggling Buckeyes coming back as he put in a goal on a 3-on-1 at 17:50. Tomkins was pulled, but the Bucks still couldn't get one with yet another advantage.
Chris Neil notched his fourth career shutout for the Falcons as they finished the sweep of the Buckeyes. The favorites won the series but one wishes the Buckeyes could've at least made the games closer before falling at the end. They did a better job tonight through the first two periods, but just couldn't maintain the effort or provide anything resembling an offensive spark outside of Schilkey's breakaway.
Ohio State will host No. 11 Miami at Value City Arena on Friday, and next weekend's series can't go much worse.